There has been a dearth of quality information regarding the provision of neurophysiology services on the UK. Previous attempts by the BSCN to compile even something as simple as a complete list of departments have been handicapped by poor levels of response to data collection questionnaires, inconsistent categorization of activity and unwillingness to share data. The only regularly collected data regarding waiting lists, the DM01 dataset, is returned by all trusts in England but records only NCS/EMG waiting lists. Almost nothing is known nationally about staffing levels, equipment stocks, facilities, casemix and training. In 2023 NHS England therefore conducted a census of all Foundation Trusts in England in an attempt to compile a one month ‘snapshot’ of neurophysiology activity, facilities, waiting lists and staffing. 35/86 (41%) services provided full data returns covering the month of October 2023. The data was made available to departments on a web-based dashboard at: https://app.powerbi.com but few of the contributing departments have accessed this. Notwithstanding this, NHS England has repeated the exercise in 2024, collecting data for the month of September. This time 72/86 (84%) of eligible English trusts have contributed data and it has also been possible to add data from 6 trusts in Wales. The new dataset covers 30,627 tests and is complete enough to allow some interesting observations.
• Activity (tests) per 1000 population is highest in the Midlands region 0.72 and lowest in the East of England (0.37)
• Number of tests carried out per member of staff in the month ranged from 202 to 1.3
• The busiest department in the country overall is Sandwell and West Birmingham
• The least busy is Cwm Taf Morgannwg (Royal Glamorgan Hospital) in Wales
• 3 Departments have no equipment less than 7 years old while 22 have no superannuated equipment at all
• 3 Departments have no consultant cover at all
• Waiting lists are highly variable and generally longer for EMG/NCS with 43% of EMG cases waiting longer than 6 weeks at the end of September and 16% waiting longer than 13 weeks
• 30% of all EMG/NCS tests are being carried out primarily for carpal tunnel syndrome
The data will inform decision making on resource allocation and service development. A new web based browser for the data is being made available.
